Exactly ! Remember when he told Pepper: "I hope I can protect the thing I can't live without, thats you"

For him to still joke when he has failed in that important mission is not interesting for the character at all. Even if joking IS his defense mechanism.

Remember the look on his face when Coulson died and Fury was giving them his 'I still believe in heroes' lecture.

You guys are saying Stark should have lol'ed at Fury or done something 'Starky'. But he was shocked at the death of his friend and acted accordingly. Isn't that more interesting to see ? (or in Starks case, out of character because tragedy has struck)

Or in IM1 when the reporter showed him pictures of the atrocities committed in Gulmira by his weapons. He got serious. You guys would have him say something like "I got a Jericho missile right here for ya, just gimme a call"

Because that's how he deals with tragedy. Maybe true, but makes for one boring and one dimensional character.

Spot on. The comedic and serious stuff was well balanced before, and that's why many times it didn't work for me in IM3. I can't see how the whole Pepper dying scene was supposed to leave any emotional impact when it was clear she survived the EXTREMIS infection moments ago and didn't blow up. And further down the line, the entire "Whatever" scene was a joke. It diminished any attempt at creating an emotional moment for Tony when he failed to save Pepper. It's like he's well aware that he's a movie character and none of this is real, so he can act however he want without it being accordingly to what's happening. If that's the point then why even try to have these supposed serious moments be that dramatic? The movie just didn't know what it wanted to be most of the time.

__________________"This is NOT the comics. There WON'T be a Batman IV, there will be a reboot." - Nevincer